Genocide by British and American Militaries in Diego Garcia Even TodayPosted on June 27th, 2016

Dilrook Kannangara

Depopulation and genocide of people in Diego Garcia islands is one of the most foul acts of war crimes in modern world. It is a continuing shame on humanity. In 1966 the British government depopulated the islands to lease out the island to the US government for a military base.

A diplomatic Cable signed by DA Greenhill, dated August 24, 1966 states: “Unfortunately along with the birds go some few Tarzans or Man Fridays whose origins are obscure, and who are hopefully being wished on to Mauritius etc. When this has been done I agree we must be very tough and a submission is being done accordingly.”

This clearly shows the callous disregard of human value. Unfortunately this continues to this day as the two countries prevent natives from returning to their nation.

However, they don’t miss a chance to find fault with other nations over war crimes and even non-existent war crimes. The islands are used continuously to commit horrendous crimes on women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq. The world must rally around displaced people since 1966 and demand they are given their islands.

Occupation of these islands must end soon and they must be handed back to the people.

3 Responses to “Genocide by British and American Militaries in Diego Garcia Even Today”

USA was deeply concerned with the stability of the host nation of any potential base, and sought an unpopulated territory, to avoid United Nations’s decolonisation requirements and the resulting political issues of sovereignty or anti-US sentiment. The Chagossian right of occupation was violated by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office as a result of the 1966 agreement between UK & US governments The forced removal of the Chagossian people was an act of ethnic cleansing. The frustration of more than four decades of of exile for the Chagos islanders exacerbated by the refusal of successive UK governments to find a just solution kept breaking though. How can it be that a military settlement is lawful when the rightful inhabitants are not allowed to settle there? US & UK military squatters have taken over the rightful habitation of the islands. Each revelation about the UK’s dealings with Diego Garcia is more disgraceful than the previous, and still the cover-up continues.
Presently about 50 British and 1,500 U.S. military personnel, and 3,000 support workers of various nationalities reside at Diego Garcia.
Most of the roughly 1,500 displaced Chagossians were agricultural workers and fisherman. Uprooted and robbed of their livelihood, the Chagossians now live in poverty in Mauritius’s urban slums, more than 1,500km from their homeland. A smaller number were deported to the Seychelles. About 800 islanders forced off Diego Garcia are alive today, and another 5,000 Chagossians have been born in exile. A 2003 60 Minutes segment and a 2004 documentary by Australian journalist and filmmaker John Pilger, “Stealing a Nation”, have done much to publicize the little-known plight of the islanders.
In May 2006, the British High Court in London ruled that the Chagossians may in fact return to other Chagossian islands, and offered a withering assessment of the British conduct in the case, calling it “outrageous, unlawful and a breach of accepted moral standards.”
“The suggestion that a minister can, through an Order in Council, exile a whole population from a British Overseas Territory and claim he is doing so for the ‘peace, order and good government’ of the Territory is repugnant.”
The Chagossians have accepted that they cannot return to Diego Garcia because of the U.S. airbase, but the islanders want to move elsewhere in the Chagos archipelago, to the Salomon islands and Peros Banhos, which are more than 150km from Diego Garcia. USA is opposed to anyone other than military personnel and their employees living anywhere in the Chagos archipelago, asserting that security will be compromised. According to a US State Department official, Lincoln Bloomfield Jr., allowing civilians in the archipelago could potentially lead to “terrorists infiltrating the islands.”
Visit http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3667764379758632511# to watch the documentary by John Pilger titled ‘Stealing of a Nation’ which discusses the current plight of these indigenous people who have been forcibly exiled by the so-called guardians of democracy and human rights, the British, for the benefit of their loyal friends, the Americans, so that the US has an unrestricted platform to launch attacks on other nations which do not comply with the so called ‘new world order’ as dictated by the US.

It would be interesting to hear from the so called human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, ICJ, UNHRC etc as to what they think about this situation and what action they would take to help the Diergo-garcians to regain their independence and lost human rights.

Diego Garcians will get their land back as, it is too far away from the action and as soon as the US military finds a foot hold to move from there. If the so called ‘dream Eelam ‘was aloowed to happen as they expected Trincomalee would have been their’s for the taking and even now they have not given up on Trincomalee.
This ‘jahapalanaya’ was brought in at great expense was exactly for that reason and they are right on course to oblige their sponsors.

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